Child safety is among the most important issues that concern today's parents. These concerns are heightened in the area of automobile safety. Laws concerning the use of car seats, booster seats, seatbelts, and the like, continue to save lives, and will do so in the future as well. However, regardless of any specific law, or the usage of any specific device, the best safety practice is to be mindful of what a child is doing at any moment. This is a somewhat difficult task when considering the placement of the driver in the front of the vehicle relative to the placement of the child in the rear of the vehicle. Drivers, and even front seat passengers, can be easily distracted by the activity in the rear of a vehicle. While mirrors provide some rearward vision, the observation area is somewhat limited, and may even be more distracting than no mirror at all. These same problems exist in other locations where it is necessary to view a child to confirm their safety such as in a crib, playpen, or in bedroom. Accordingly, there exists a need for a means by which visual observation of an area can be provided to ensure a child's safety to alleviate the concerns as described above. The development of the video camera with wireless monitor fulfills this need.
The invention comprises two (2) main components. The first component is a battery operated portable color video camera with the capability of recording and transmitting video and audio content. The video camera is operated by a rechargeable battery, and is capable of operating for hours without being recharged. The video camera is equipped with a universal mounting mechanism that allows it to be placed virtually anywhere. This mounting mechanism has two (2) versions enabling it to secure the camera to a flat smooth surface or placed around a vehicle headrest. Preferably, the video camera is positioned such that the camera can capture motion pictures of the entire back seat area. The camera is further provided with an integral transmitter capable of broadcasting the video and audio signal for hundreds of feet.
The second component of the invention is a portable video monitor. The screen is small enough to not pose as a distraction to a driver, but still large enough to allow for split-screen operation for viewing video footage from multiple separate cameras. The battery powered monitor is provided with a universal mounting clamp and suction cup for mounting to virtually any flat smooth surface. The portable video monitor is used to receive and display visual and audio data transmitted from the video camera so that persons in the front of the vehicle can observe the occupants in the rear of the vehicle without having to physically turn around.
Prior art in this field consists of closed-circuit video monitoring systems that provide live feeds but that are not portable and require complex installation. Other prior art video recoding systems that are more portable do not provide live feed video and audio from a recorder to a remotely located display.
It is an objective of the present invention to provide a surveillance system to observe live occurrences of an isolated, or otherwise remote, location via a wireless display and camera.
It is a further objective of the present invention to enable high portability and positioning of the system, as well as universal mounting of the various parts, so that it may be used virtually anywhere.
It is a further objective of the present invention to provide a surveillance system capable of displaying multiple images simultaneously from multiple cameras.
It is a further objective of the present invention to enable use of existing mobile electronic devices as the wireless display device, if it is desired to do so.